Athens is the historical capital of Europe, with a long history, dating from the first settlement in the Neolithic age. In the 5^th Century BC (the “Golden Age of Pericles”) – the culmination of Athens’ long, fascinating history – the city’s values and civilization acquired a universal significance. Over the years, a multitude of conquerors occupied Athens, and erected unique, splendid monuments – a rare historical palimpsest. In 1834, it became the capital of the modern Greek state and in two centuries since it has become an attractive modern metropolis with unrivalled charm.

A large part of the town’s historic centre has been converted into a 3-kilometre pedestrian zone (the largest in Europe), leading to the major archaeological sites (“archaeological park”), reconstructing – to a large degree – the ancient landscape.

Although Athens is rich in historical and cultural sites, Athens area offers more than 2000 single pitch bolted lines in more than 40 crags and new routes are constantly popping up. In addition there are 4 multi pitch walls with trad lines, plenty of bouldering and a lot of potential for deep water solo.

In the past, we have visited some other crags which are located near Athens, such as Etos Spata, Pano Alogopetra, Epos Fylis,  Korakofolia and Acharneis.

This time though, we have visited another great climbing area, Penteli and specifically, the Sibligades crag.

---

About Mt. Penteli

Mt. Penteli presides over the beautiful town of Pendeli, east of Athens. It also happens to be the site at which marble was quarried to build the Acropolis and other ancient Greek monuments. The quarry is long-since abandoned, but several sport routes as well as a handful of gear/mixed lines have been put up, making for an interesting outing on a very unique rock type. While hardly worthy as a destination area, Mt. Penteli is a worthwhile outing for a day, particularly for climbers who are in Athens for a few days waiting for connecting flights.

---

Access

The quarry itself is located at 38.07381 N, 23.87208 E near the Aghios Ioannis Latomos Shrine.

From the town of Penteli:

From here it is about a 1 hour walk, but it is a pleasant and relatively easy hike. Follow Georgiou Papandreou east until you hit Frigias. Hang a left on Frigias, and keep going until you hit Papaflessa. Hang a left and head uphill, with the road quickly turning into a rough dirt road (ATV/4×4 possible?) Hang a left at the first fork, then a right at the next major intersection. In another 1.3 Km take a left at the T intersection. Keep following the road and it will dead end at a T immediately in front of the cave. There are a handful of harder routes outside the cave, and the easier quarry is about a couple hundred yards to the west along the road.

From the parking lot, which is indicated on the map above, there is an easy 10 minutes hike that leads to the stunning old quarry.

---

About Sibligades Crag

The Sibligades crag offers 33 routes, each route is secured with 10 bolts, and for climbing are needed only 10 quickdraws. Sibligades crag have three sections, the positive slab, the north wall and the red south wall. At the base of each route the climber can see the name and the difficulty of the route in UIIA rating . Care should be taken that the rating are rather strict, especially with regard to positive slab. Indeed, the positive slab paths (between 5a and 6a +) move in positive field with only small grip and friction and may initially look more difficult than stated. This contributes to the necessary confidence in friction and their relatively sparse insurance in relation to route insurance in other sports fields.

All the routes were given female names from the beginning, which was followed faithfully. Thus, spouses, daughters, friends, friends, mums, aunts, etc. were honored, among them a “Scylla” and “Harby” directly connected with the “Symplegades“.

The Symplegades (Greek: Συμπληγάδες, Symplēgádes) or Clashing Rocks, also known as the Cyanean Rocks, were, according to Greek mythology, a pair of rocks at the Bosphorus that clashed together whenever a vessel went through. They were defeated by Jason and the Argonauts, who would have been lost and killed by the rocks except for Phineus’ advice. Jason let a dove fly between the rocks; it lost only its tail feathers. The Argonauts rowed mightily to get through and lost only part of the stern ornament. After that, the Symplegades stopped moving permanently.

---

Positive Slab Sector

Name	Grade	Meters
Dexia	6a	20
Aristeri	6a	20
Virginia	5c+	25
Nini	5a	25
Giota	5a	30
Ivi	6a	30
Konstantina	6a	30
Aggela	6a+	30
Aleka	5c+	30
Eleni	5c	30
Leonie	6a	25
Prasinomata	5a	27

---

North Wall Sector

Name	Grade	Meters
Mikri	6a+	15
Cleo	6b	20
Chrtistianna	6c	20
Demetra	7a	22
Aura	6c	18
Ioli	6a	22
Sofia	6b+	22
Kaiti	6a+	22
Anastasia	6a	22
Bro	6a	22
Skylla	5c	22
Maria	5c	22
Charivdi	5c	18
Artemisia	6a+	22
Ilianna	5b	22

---

Red Wall Sector

Name	Grade	Meters
Mia	6b	20
Kai I allí	6b	20
Roza	6b	20
Anna	6b	17
Anita	6b	15
Kopsi (ridge)	5c	15

Once again, I have had a really nice day climbing nearby Athens though this crag is very tough and is for advanced climbers and I would not recommend it for beginners.

---

If you liked this post, see more rock climb activities on the links bellow:

• Climbing near Athens Airport – Etos Spata
• Climbing in Acharneis
• Climbing in Korakofolia
• Climbing in Epos Fylis
• Climbing in Pano Alogopetra
• Climbing in Nafplio
• Climbing in Katafyki Gorge – Ermioni
• Climbing in Leonidio
• Trad Climbing on Artemisio Mountain
• Climbing in Fragchti Caves
• Climbing in the Pillars of the Winds